Saturday, October 25, 2008

STX - Savate-Thai-Crosstraining

STX stands for Savate-Thai-Crosstraining. This is the stand-up style that is taught by Erik Paulson (erikpaulson.com) as a result of the training he’s had from his many instructors.From Savate, STX draws its footwork and evasiveness. Savate is known for being highly mobile and constantly moving which makes you harder to hit and allows you to attack at angles.STX also capitalizes on Savate’s many fakes and setups so that the opponent is constantly guessing as to which attack is real and what is just a misleading fake. Following the misleading attacks is a system of extremely fluid combinations that help to allow the fighter to land more hits than the opponent while moving in and out of range at good angles. On defense, STX draws from some of the unique defense and counter techniques that help to keep your opponent out of his game and help you to set up your shots more like a chess match. Savate is also a much longer range kicking method.From Thai boxing, STX obviously draws its powerful kicking and conditioning. It will also utilize the stand your ground attitude of Muay Thai with good, strong defensive techniques and quick, powerful counters. STX also uses the closing and clinching techniques that Muay Thai is known for so that you can control and apply knees, elbows and close range punching.Although STX is heavily based on Savate and Muay Thai, it also has elements that are modified and used from other arts and disciplines such as Kali, Silat, Greco Roman Wrestling, and Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do concepts.